The invention relates to an apparatus for filling bags with unwieldy goods, comprising
a spreader means to hold open a bag, PA1 a channel which is movable back and forth in its own longitudinal direction between a takeover position in which goods to be filled can be introduced into the channel and an immersed position in which it is plunged through the spreader means all the way into the vicinity of the bottom of the bag which is being held open, PA1 the channel comprising a hinged flap which is open in the takeover position but adapted to be moved into a closing position in which it supplements the channel to form a closed tube portion when the channel moves into the immersed position. PA1 the spreader means comprises a spreader tube which has the profile contour of a ship's hull and engages between projecting bag edge zones of a film web forming the bags and being movable stepwise in the longitudinal direction of this contour, PA1 the channel is upright and designed to be an immersion tube adapted at one end to plunge into the bag, and PA1 the flap is a semi-tubular portion of the channel disposed at the other end of the channel and, when in open position, acts as a conveyor chute aligning one bushy plant each in longitudinal direction of the immersion tube, with the conglomerate of roots leading.
Such an apparatus is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,269. With this known apparatus the channel is a horizontal, upwardly open groove which carries a pair of horizontal bearing pins near its front end to support the flap. In the takeover position the front end area of the channel is positioned under a funnel and the flap is almost in a vertical position, its lower part closing the front end of the channel and its upper part protruding into the funnel so that the goods to be filled can fall into the channel but cannot leave it as yet at the front end thereof. The spreader means comprises a nozzle through which air is introduced respectively into a bag which is retained in front of the channel so as to keep it open while the channel is moved into the same. A piston and cylinder arrangement is associated with the channel for its horizontal reciprocating motion. Another piston and cylinder arrangement effects reciprocating movements of a piston-like pusher member in the channel so as to push the goods to be filled toward the front out of the channel when the latter is plunged into the bag.
This known apparatus is suitable for bulk material which is only moderately unwieldy, like carrots. The known apparatus at any rate is not suited for the automatic packing of plants in the form of bushes or shrubs which do not readily orient themselves in longitudinal direction of the horizontal, upwardly open channel if the cross section of the channel and thus also of the bags to be filled is not much larger than the greatest cross section of the conglomerate of roots of the bushy plants. If the bushy plants were packed in correspondingly large bags, their conglomerates of roots would be insufficiently protected against drying out.
Furthermore, an apparatus for packing bushy plants is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,836, comprising a bed, ready for one bushy plant each to be placed on it, below a funnel for feeding bushy plants, and a pair of molding jaws between which the bushy plant is compressible such that subsequently it can be pushed by means of a pusher member transversely of the direction of movement of the two molding jaws through a mouthpiece into a receptacle which was previously slipped on the mouthpiece. Only few, particularly robust plant species can withstand the forces acting during these procedures without suffering damage.
Finally, apparatus are known which serve to fill film bags of plastics with bulk material, such as potatoes. With them, projecting edge zones of bags formed by a film web and not yet separated from one another are pulled in longitudinal direction of the film web over a spreader such that the bag edge zones which extend in longitudinal direction of the film web and are not interconnected become spread apart and are held apart until a desired amount of goods to be filled has been introduced into the bag. These known apparatus are little suitable for goods to be filled which are unwieldy and have a tendency to get stuck at the bag.
It is, therefore, the object of the invention to devise an apparatus for filling bags in such manner that it will be suitable also for packing obstinate bushy plants with rootery.
The object is met, in accordance with the invention, by an apparatus of the kind specified initially, with which
What is achieved thereby is that the bushy plants offer only little resistance to their being moved into the immersion tube, and this resistance can be overcome either by gravity alone or by gentle help at best, using a pusher member or the like, which does not endanger the goods to be filled. Even roots or branches jutting out extraordinarily far from the bushy plants are held together in the immersion tube such that they cannot get stuck anywhere. For this reason it is warranted that each plant is introduced into the bag as far as intended and cannot tear the bag. That is particularly important with bushy plants whose conglomerate of roots for instance has been wrapped in the manner known from German utility model 88 04 853 with wire mesh which may have wire ends sticking out. Even thorny branches of bushy plants, for example rose plants, cannot get stuck at the bag while they are being introduced into the bag with the apparatus according to the invention.
The invention preferably is developed further in that an upwardly open channel opens into the conveyor chute when the latter is in the open position. Bushy plants fall in intervals one after the other into that channel. That provides preorientation of each individual bushy plant in the conveyor chute which will then be responsible only for aligning the bushy plant exactly in longitudinal direction of the immersion tube.
In general it is convenient if a plunger for pushing the bushy plants into the bag is movable back and forth in the immersion tube as in the channel of the apparatus known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,269. If the immersion tube is disposed sufficiently steeply, especially vertically, the goods to be filled in general will tend to slide by themselves through the immersion tube into the bag; however, the plunger described makes sure that even in case of especially unwieldy bushy plants the bottom of the bag will be reached in any case by the rootery of the plant.
Finally, it is advantageous if a holding device is arranged beyond the spreader tube in the direction of immersion to hold on to the filled bag when the immersion tube is retracted. In this manner it can be prevented positively that the immersion tube will take along, in its retraction, any especially unwieldy bushy plant.